She furrowed her nose at me.
“So…how was the sex?” Blythe asked.
Nikolai coughed.
“I…” I hesitated. “We haven’t…uhhh…had sex yet.”
Blythe’s mouth dropped open.
“You…then how…you have his mark!” She pointed at the tattoo.
I looked down, only now realizing that I was practically naked, only in a bra and a pair of panties.
“Shit,” I said, standing up and reaching for the blanket that was on the bed. “Why are y’all still in here while I’m naked?”
“You’re not naked,” Keifer argued.
Nikolai grabbed his brother in a choke hold and took him out of the room, leaving only me and Blythe.
“You’re my sister for real now!” Blythe said, jumping on the bed and rolling until she was lying on the made side of the bed.
I blinked, laughing under my breath as I realized that Nikolai had made the bed around me instead of waking me up.
“I haven’t decided to actually accept the mating yet,” I hedged.
Blythe gave me an eye roll.
“If you’re bearing the mark…something I’m still not sure how you’re doing if you haven’t had sex…then you’re his and he’s yours. No ifs, ands or buts. Trust me on this, you can’t run,” she said.
Then she did something with her fingers, and all of a sudden a fireball formed in her hands.
I gasped.
“Your hand’s on fire!” I screeched.
Apparently, screeching was the only octave I could handle this morning.
She looked at me curiously.
“You made my mate fight a figment of his imagination…and you’re saying something about me holding a ball of fire?” she asked.
I blinked.
Now that she put it like that, it did sound odd that I would question her use of a magical ability.
“I don’t even know how I did that,” I said.
Blythe smiled.
“The first night I started exhibiting powers, I caught my panties on fire,” she said.
I waited for the punch line, but there wasn’t one.
“You’re…what?” I asked in confusion.
She nodded as if I was in on some insider’s scoop.
“I really did. But I didn’t burn my skin. But I’ve miraculously never had to shave again since I burned off the hair. It’s been rather…interesting. The major thing is that I can hear other people’s thoughts…when I want to,” she added quickly when she saw the worried look on my face.
I visibly relaxed.
“Good,” I said. “Do you think you could make it so I didn’t have to shave anymore?”
She gave me a droll look.
“You’re weird,” she said. “Tell me how you and Nikolai got mated without actually fucking.”
I curled my lip at her. “Don’t say ‘fucking.’ It’s crude,” I said. “As for the ‘mating’ part of our ‘mating’, which I’m still not sure about; apparently the tattoo can appear without actual intercourse. Mine appeared after he touched me. When his sister was working on me, apparently I became very near death, and the mating was forced to save my life. I drew a monumental amount of energy from Nikolai that was able to heal me physically. Mentally, it took a little bit longer…or so I’m told.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Do you want to fuck him?”
I glared at her and she held up her hands.
“Sorry,” she said. “Keifer has a dirty mouth.”
I sighed and finally sat down, letting the sheet I’d grabbed in my haste to cover up drop as I did.
I reached for the shirt Nikolai had taken off the night before and shrugged it on before lying down next to her.
“I want to,” I said.
“Then why don’t you?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I’m nervous. I want to be with him, but to have it forced upon us makes me feel like it’s wrong. What if he resents me? What if I resent him?”
“Trust me on this,” she said. “You won’t resent each other. Everything you’re feeling now will all be clear after, and you’ll feel even more deeply and strongly for each other.
I sighed.
“I’m hungry,” I said.
She jumped up.
“Me, too!” she said, clapping her hands.
Then she jumped forward, tossed me a pair of sweatpants that were on the floor, and said, “Get them on.”
Needless to say, I ‘got them on’.
They were too big.
They were, of course, made for a man that was six foot three and two hundred twenty pounds.
Not me at five foot six inches and a hundred and thirty five pounds.
Well, a hundred and thirty five pounds when I was still working out. There was no telling what I weighed now.
Blythe walked with me to the kitchen, seemingly having no problem navigating the hallways like I had.
We were almost there when we heard a commotion that had us both running.
“Fuck!” came the booming bellow of Keifer.
We were in the kitchen within moments, and I froze when I saw Keifer as pale as a white sheet.
“What’s going on?” I cried, seeing Nikolai not in much better of a position.
He was leaning heavily on the counter, Keifer’s hand wrapped around his bicep.
He had his head leaning against the cool granite countertop as something was exchanged between them.
“Hurry, put your hand on him,” Blythe dragged me to Keifer.
Except my mind was all on Nikolai, as worry poured through me. Was he okay?
The moment I touched the skin of Keifer’s arm, lightning jumped from him to me.
My skin seemed to pulse as whatever power communication between the two males poured into me as well. My skin felt hot, and my eyes burned like they did at the end of a long day of working outside under the sun.
My breathing came in short, ragged gasps, and my eyes inadvertently closed as I, too, slumped onto the counter.
It was like when I was sixteen and accidentally touched an exposed wire from a box fan I had plugged into the wall. It was a distinct buzz of energy that jolted up my arm and shot straight to my heart…only multiplied times a thousand.
I could feel my residual aches and pains flowing away.
My hearing and vision became sharper as my knees grew weaker.
Pictures started to flow through my brain of a tow-headed boy running after a much larger man that was carrying a cane.
Then another where two teenagers fought, ones that looked impressively like much younger versions of Keifer and Nikolai.
Then there was the moment Nikolai first laid eyes on Perdita.
The moment he realized that he needed to change his life to be a better man.
Then more of Nikolai excelling at using his powers, fighting more with his brothers. Swinging his sister around in his arms. Cooking with his mother. Throwing the football to a bunch of smaller dragons.
And finally…the first time he saw me.
How he felt when he first laid eyes on my broken body. How tenderly he’d held me when he’d finally gotten me away from there. How he’d cared for me, day in and day out. The moment that the tattoo appeared on both of our bodies. How he’d take his shirt off after a long day of wearing it, and carried it down for me to wear.
The moment he placed the shirt next to my face, I’d calm instantly.
And I finally knew.
He was mine, and I was his.
I opened my eyes, eyes full of wonder, as I stared at the man at my side.
“What was that?” I breathed.
He grimaced.
“What was what?” he asked, standing up like an old man.
“All of that,” I said.
My brain wasn’t working right. Little zips of power went into my fingers where I still touched him, causing me to twitch every now and then.
I watched him now, not as the man I was stuck with (even though I wanted to be stuck with him), but as a different man. A man that I was in love with, and I never knew it’d happened.
Sometime in the last couple of days, he’d wormed himself into my heart, digging in deep, and making a spot for himself there. Permanently.
I studied his face. The scar that ran across the bridge of his nose, knowing exactly how he’d gotten it, even though I’d never worked up the courage to ask.
I saw the beautiful, silky brown hair. The olive green eyes that had a smidge of honey brown encircling his irises. The beautiful lips that were a stunning shade of red. The slightly pointed out ears. The beautifully defined chest.
His tattoo that matched mine.
The abs that looked like they should be illegal in forty-nine states. The way he had deep ridges that formed a V to his bottom half.
And I fell in love. I fell in love so deep and hard that I would never be able to dig my way out.
He was mine.
And I was his.
And I saw the moment he saw me realize it, because those beautiful greenish brown eyes of his flared, his pupils dilating until they took up the majority of his eyes.
His arms tensed. Abs flexed.
“That was my life,” he said quietly.
“I know,” I said back just as quietly. “What happened?”
“Someone came into power. Keifer is King of the Dragon Riders; when a dragon rider does come into their powers, he feels it. All the excess energy that’s given off the dragon rider can’t handle is shot back to him by some cosmic wave in the universe. He then distributes that power, first to himself, and each person he’s bonded to, either by blood or blood bond,” he said. “I didn’t realize, though, that I could pass it on to my mate seeing as you’re not directly bonded to him in any way. This mating business is still new to us.”
“Yeah,” Keifer said, picking himself off the ground. “I’ve only gone through that three times now, and it hasn’t gotten easier.”
“It was faster this time, though,” Blythe said.
Keifer and Nikolai snorted.
“And it didn’t leave you on your ass this time. Only your knees,” Blythe continued.
I smiled, sensing a sore subject when I heard one.
Blythe had a way to badger you to death. She was awesome like that.
“Shut it, woman,” Keifer growled. “Now cook me something to eat. Suddenly, I’m fuckin’ starving.”
“Hmm,” she said. “What do you want?”
“Meat.”
“What kind of meat?
“Good meat. Manly meat,” he teased.
Blythe raised her brows.
“Steak? Chicken?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Anything, as long as it comes from an animal that has legs.”
“I’m out of everything but eggs,” Nikolai said. “We haven’t gone to the grocery store since you left.”
“Well, fuck,” Keifer said. “Guess it’s breakfast. What about bacon?”
Nikolai shook his head. “That’s gone, too.”
“I know how to make pancakes,” I offered.
Keifer nodded. “That’ll be okay, I guess. Do you cook any good?”
I shrugged. “Better than Blythe.”
A dish towel hit me in the face, and I laughed.
“Well? It’s the truth,” I said.
Blythe stuck her tongue out.
And I started cooking, Blythe at my side offering to stir or add ingredients when I needed her to.
“So, tell me what happened today. You said in your message that you were attacked,” Keifer said, taking up a spot at the counter.
Nikolai sat down beside him, and they discussed what had happened earlier in the day.
“You think it was her uncle?” Keifer asked, gesturing to me.
“No. It had nothing to do with him, I don’t think, and everything to do with her uncle’s cronies,” Nikolai said. “They clocked me the minute I got out of our territory, so they at least tracked us to our line but couldn’t see any further past it.”
“Well, that’s just fucking perfect, isn’t it?” Keifer growled in frustration.
Chapter 8
The strongest walls are not made of stone. They are made of brave men.
-Fact of Life
Brooklyn
I tiptoed out of the bedroom that Nikolai had stashed me in hours ago.
My eyes darted first left, then right, as I slowly eased out of the door.
I froze when my cat followed me, but breathed a sigh of relief when she continued down the hallway in the opposite direction of where I was going.
I couldn’t sleep.
In fact, I was so not sleepy that I could probably stand to burn a few hundred calories.
And I had just the way to do it as I eased down the hallway towards Nikolai’s room.
I pushed the door open on a silent swing, straining my eyes to see inside…I couldn’t.
So I slowly moved towards the bed and kept my hands out in front of me to stop myself from taking any headers without seeing them first.
A table bumped into my right knee, and I cursed softly.
“Shit,” I whispered nearly silently.
“I was wondering when you’d finally get in here,” Nikolai said, amusement tinging his voice.
I squeaked.
“God!” I gasped. “You just scared the crap out of me.”
He chuckled darkly, and suddenly I was yanked down.
I sprawled ungracefully across a very hard body and instantly went soft as I burrowed my face deep into Nikolai’s neck.
“You were waiting for me?” I asked softly.
“Mmm-hmm,” he rumbled.
His chest vibrated with his words, and I nearly moaned.
“Then why didn’t you come to me?” I asked.
“I don’t want to push you,” he answered.
“Push me into what?” I pushed.
He sighed.
“We both know where this is going,” he answered honestly. “We’re just waiting for you to get ready.”
I swallowed thickly, went up on my elbows and stared down at where I thought his face was.
“I am ready,” I said nervously.
His strong, thick fingers burrowed deep into my hair, and I closed my eyes as his lips met the sensitive skin of my neck.
“You sure?” he asked.
I nodded, and he growled in reply.
“Good,” he said. “I don’t think I could’ve held out for much longer. Your visions are killing me.”
I blinked.
“What?” I asked.
I felt his lips curl into a smile against my neck.
“You’ve been projecting visions at me. And they all center on me and you…most of the time we’re naked,” he answered.
I gasped.
“What?” I asked.
Had I done that?
Holy shit!
I’d, of course, had daydreams about him, but never in a million years would I have thought that I was projecting those visions out towards him.
“I’m…I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered.
He chuckled.
“Not your fault. I needed to teach you how to handle them first. Without the knowledge, you’ll just keep doing it unwittingly. But I found that I quite liked the visions…and I didn’t want you to freak out without being in the right mind frame first,” he said.
I sighed a breath of relief.
“Good,” I said, leaning my head down to his.
His lips whispered against mine, baby soft.
“You smell so good,” he growled.
“You always do. The scent of you clings to me, making me think about you even when you’re not here,” I admitted. “My mind never strays far away from you.”
“That’s how I want it,” he admitted, both of his hands moving up to my face to hold me
in place.
Then he really was kissing me.
Deeply. Sensually.
I moaned into his mouth, eyes closing in rapture as my tongue played along his.
“God,” I breathed.
“No. Just yours. Nikolai. Your mate,” he said as he pulled back. Then went in for more.
My hands went underneath his shoulder blades, and I curled my fingers until they were resting on top of his shoulder.
My panty clad pussy was resting on the solid expanse of his belly, but I could feel a faint prod from his lower half at the bottom of my thigh, and my body responded to it.
“We need condoms.”
“I don’t have any,” he moaned, dropping back away from me.
His head hit the back of the headboard, and I winced.
“I…I didn’t think this through very far,” I admitted.
“Me neither. I thought with us not having them here, it’d be easier for me to stay away from you. Not to take that final step until you were ready,” he explained.
I bit my lip as I counted days inside my head.
I’d had my period and had finished it just two days ago, making me think that maybe it wouldn’t have any repercussions if we did it right now.
Tomorrow we’d get condoms.
Tomorrow, I decided.
I moved lower, scooting until I was between his legs, and my mouth could reach his nipples.
I ran my tongue along the small, tight peaks, letting my teeth nip the bud every few flicks as I did.
“Shit,” he hissed, letting his fingers tangle in my hair.
I switched sides, repeating the process.
His hands tightened in my hair, fists clenching and unclenching as he tried valiantly not to direct me where he wanted me to go.
“What do you want, Nik?” I questioned.
He growled.
“You. I want you. I want you on your back, with your legs around my shoulders. I want you on all fours, with my dick in your ass. I want you on your knees, with my cock in your mouth. I want you every which way I can get you,” he answered abruptly, tumbling me to the side so he was on top of me. “But mostly, right now, I want to be inside your hot, sweet pussy so bad I can taste it. Unfortunately, I can’t fucking have that.”
When he started to get up, I wrapped both of my legs around his hips and pulled him closer until the cock in question ran along the length of my pussy.
“Then take me,” I ordered.
Dragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2) Page 7